2018/11/20 by Stefan Thurner, Thurner, Stefan
Social Sciences · #FOS: Physical sciences #Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph) #Wikis in Education and Collaboration
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1811.08156
openalex publication_date 2018/11/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Can we describe social systems quantitatively and predictively, when we know all the actions, interactions, and states of individuals? We interpret human societies as co-evolutionary systems of individuals and their interactions. Based on unique data of a society of computer game players, where all actions and interactions between all players are known, we show that this might indeed be possible. Within this framework we address a number of sociological classics, including formation of social networks, strength of relations, group formation, hierarchical organization, aggression management, gender differences, mobility, and wealth-inequality. We discover behavioral and organizational patterns of the homo sapiens and its society that were not visible with traditional methodology from the social sciences.